Cham Ski Areas & Meeting Points

BASS Chamonix operate throughout the Chamonix Valley at Le Tour/Balme, La Grands Montets, La Flegere, Le Brevent and Les Houches – Prarion. We have a number of “meeting places” so that you can easily locate your instructor. Because we are a small group of elite professionals we do not have official meeting points but use easily recognisable points near the top or bottom of the main ski lifts.

The following page gives you more information about each of the ski areas, our meeting places and some useful links for lift passes, piste maps and web cams. Our ski area descriptions are unique as they are based on our expertise as to where to go based on your skiing ability and depending on the skills you wish to practice. Please scroll down this page to the relevant ski area.

The Domain de Balme area is at the top of the Chamonix Valley and is made up of Le Tour, Vormaine and Vallorcine. Le Tour & Vormaine are about a 20 minute bus journey from Chamonix centre (free ski bus) or you can take the train to Monroc and then the bus up to the Le Tour car park. Vallorcine provides another access point to the ski area and the village is located on the other side of the Col de Montets (ideal if you are coming from Switzerland).

The Vormaine ski lifts and beginners area is quite simply the best area in the valley for beginners to early intermediates. It offers wide and easy green pistes ideal for snowplough turners and the lift staff are extremely friendly and helpful.

The main ski area accessed by a gondola from Le Tour or a gondola from Vallorcine is a great area for carving with lots of blue pistes and easy reds. It is also a great place to learn to ski off piste as you can access great off piste without being too far from the pistes.

However if you think that the Balme area is only for beginners and intermediates then you are wrong! The Les Jurs area accessable from the tete de balme chairlift offers some exceptional off piste skiing with spectacular views of the Emsson dam. The skiing is also mostly in Switzerland even though all lift access is in France! And if you are looking for something even more challenging then the Vormaine couloirs are where its at…

Meeting places;

La Vormaine – to the left of the small ticket office near the little outdoor cafe at the bottom of the drag lifts.

Le Tour 1 – bottom of the Le Tour gondola outside the ski shop which is to the right of the ticket office as you look up the hill.

Le Tour 2 – at the top of the Le Tour gondola, outside, beside the little information hut and big ski area map.

Best place to eat & drink;

Le Passon (to the right of the car park as you walk to the ticket office)

The Grands Montets ski area is one of the most famous skiing areas in the world. The 1980s ski movie “The Blizzard of AAHHH’s” really put this place on the map and it provides access to some of the best steep skiing in the world. After a dump of snow this is ironically one of the places to avoid as everybody turns up and the lift lines at the bottom tend to be very long. It also gets tracked out faster than any other area in the valley.

For the upper intermediate and advanced skier this is certainly a great place to ski, learn and challenge yourself. Terrain for the lower intermediate is very limited.

Les Houches is about 6km down the valley from Chamonix and is a great area for the intermediate skier. It is rather reminiscent of a ski area in North America as it has many tree lined pistes (or trails as they would say in the USA). This in itself offers a great venue for when the weather is bad as the trees help greatly with visibility. However do not overlook Les Houches as a ski area as the variety of runs combined with a large number of lifts (chairlifts & drag lifts) provide a great area for practice particularly if you want to work on short turns or carving. Because there are so many pistes of different gradient you can practice on easier terrain and then test yourself on something a little steeper. The runs down to Col de Vosa (Prarion side) are particularly good!

This area offers some of the best views of the Mont Blanc massif. The “progression” for beginners and lower intermediates is however difficult as this area has some of the darkest blues you will find anywhere!! So dark in fact they could easily be mistaken for reds..

The skiing suits the better intermediate but there is also some very challenging pistes for more advanced skiers. If you want to work on short radius piste performance turns then this is a great place and the red run over the back from the Col Cornu chairlift is an ideal testing gradient.

For beginneres the little Savoy ski area is a very good starting point but it can be very cold as the slopes are beside the main town (on the Brevent side). Great for first day beginners but the progression is very tough. Our recommendation is to go to La Vormaine up at the Balme ski area on your second day. Its well worth the bus ride.

This is the “sunny” ski area. Because of its mainly southerly aspect the slopes get the sun from early morning. The access to the area is still very slow via the old cable car but once you are there the lift system is very good with the 8 person index chair providing access to lots of different pistes. One solution to the access problem is to start at Brevent and ski over to La Flegere via the link lift.

There is also a good green run although access from the top of the trappe chair is tricky back onto the nice open run. A good area for intermediates and those who like the sun!

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Our clients say...

"Shona is a fantastic instructor, great fun and incredibly informative. I learnt so much and can't wait to do another course with BASS Chamonix and Shona next time i'm in Chamonix, which hopefully wont be too long!"

Fran

Just wanted to say a big thank you to Derek for improving my dad's holiday so much.He really enjoyed the lessons (despite not being keen to start with!) and his skiing really came on. It was great.Thank you so much.Will not hesitate to recommend you to Guests in my chalet.

Amy

Amazing day off piste with super Shona. Great tuition, great skiing and great company.

Lesley Pinkerton

Derek has been instructing me, once last year and 5 times this year on a one to one basis.
My skiing has come on a treat and he doesn't bombard me with things to do and tries to make me work things out for myself by discussion, observing and videoing. Following Derek particularly off piste has helped me take better lines in a more controlled fashion.
He has always found the right level to push and test me without putting me too far out of my comfort zone and finds the right level of conditions whether it is on or off piste...which even this year he has managed to do considering the absence of lots of snow without travelling too far.
Today we were skiing through powder through the trees and it was close to the runs.
I will definitely be back for more.

Ross Moyes

As a mountaineer I have skied around the world from Utah to Antarctica, and taken many lessons in many countries. The level of technical input, quality of teaching, and overall service of BASS Chamonix has been exceptional, and without doubt the best I’ve experienced. I am happy to recommend them to anyone.’

Andrew Denton - Chief Exec of the UK’s Outdoor Industries Association

'Shona is brave & patient enough to go back to the fundamentals and make sure they stick. This has allowed me to really accelerate my learning and I'm skiing the best I ever have on and off piste. I have had many breakthroughs and feel incredibly excited about my future progress'

Karen

'Shona has a great way of explaining concepts simply with rich imagery, she's always positive and tuned in to what's going on. Her depth of experience shines through because she has 101 ways of coaching in a concept and her timing of giving you the right help at the right time is impeccable'
'I would heartily recommend Shona as a ski coach for any level of skier'

Karen Moyes

“At the start of the course I thought the rest of the group were already great skiers, but Shona found different improvement areas for everybody. Her exercise routines enabled all to work on these and make great improvements.”
“The focus of the course is very much on you and your needs, not just another generic script”